What He Deserves
by gryffindanni
Summary: AU after S01E15. Katara and Sokka decide to take a detour and visit their father after talking to an injured Bato. But what they find at Hakoda's camp may change their mind about their tribe-and Prince Zuko-forever. Rated M for torture, violence, and (offscreen) rape of a minor. Eventual Zuko X OC
1. Prologue

"What are we going to do with him?"

Chief Hakoda stared silently at the tent where they were holding the Fire Nation prince and sighed. "For now, we're just going to hold him."

Suluk, his second-in-command now that Bato was injured and no longer with them, stared at the tent as well. "For how long?"

"Until I can figure out what to do with him."

"We could just kill him." Suluk's voice was dark, his eyes smoldering. "His people have murdered ours for decades. He's the heir to the throne."

Hakoda shook his head, slowly but firmly. "Fire Nation or not, he's still a child. I'll not have his blood on my hands. Who knows- he may yet come around. He doesn't seem as hardened as the rest of his kind."

Suluk did not look convinced, but he knew better than to argue with his chief. "Very well, sir."

"For now, I'm placing you in full charge of the boy. Keep him fed and comfortable; it gets cold here at night. We will not be monsters. I want him treated with dignity, understood?"

Suluk lowered his head in a respectful bow. "Understood, Chief Hakoda."

"Thank you, Suluk." Casting one more glance at the tent, Hakoda left Suluk standing guard.

Hakoda was chief, supreme commander of his men. It never occurred to him over the next few weeks to be sure his orders were followed.

-xx-

A/N: Sorry, I know it's short. The rest of the story is going to be much longer. Hopefully this AU will carry throughout the show's canon, though with quite a few differences, of course. Next chapter up soon!


	2. Chapter 1

Sokka sees the camp first, lunging to the edge of Appa's saddle and pointing. "Aang! Down there, that's it!"

Aang angles Appa down toward the shore, landing him near the camp. Sokka can hear the confused and worried shouts from the soldiers as they spot the sky bison, and as soon as they land he slides down Appa's tail and greets his tribe with an excited wave. "Just us, everyone!"

In an instant, their distrustful looks fade to excited cries and waves. "Sokka? Good to see you!"

Katara jumps down after him, an elated light in her eyes. Forgetting about their two companions still atop Appa, they both sprint to greet their men. The next moments are a whirl of hugs, handshakes, and exclamations of how much the two siblings have grown, how wonderful it is to see familiar faces. Sokka can't stop grinning, his chest puffed out. Katara, in typical fashion, is nearly sobbing, but for once Sokka won't make fun of her for that. He would never admit it, but he kind of feels like crying himself.

A good ten minutes later, Katara remembers Aang and Hikari, standing a bit behind them, Aang looking shyly excited, Hikari nervous and mildly uncomfortable. Whoops.

"Oh! Everyone, these are our friends, Hikari and Aang," Katara says, beckoning the two forward with a wave of her hand. "Hikari is a girl we met in the Earth Kingdom a few weeks ago, and Aang... well, he's the Avatar."

"Um... hi," Aang says, waving with a shy smile on his face. Hikari just bows slightly, stiffly. She's still not used to being part of their group, Sokka muses. They had only picked her up a few weeks ago, after rescuing her from a few Fire Nation soldiers intent on violating her. She was a quiet, slender non-bender with thick black hair and large blue eyes, as well as a mysterious burn scar that covered most of the right side of her neck as well as a good bit of her right shoulder. No one had managed to get any information about the scar out of her, or indeed anything else, but she was a pretty nice kid and carried her own weight, so no one really complained.

"So, where's Dad?" Sokka demands, unable to contain himself after the clamor dies down some. He looks around at the clearing as though expecting to see his father pop out from behind a rock.

"He's in his tent," Suluk says, coming forward. "Here, I'll take you."

Sokka trots right beside Suluk, peppering him with questions about their travels. Katara follows behind, walking close to Hikari, with Aang bouncing alongside. When they reach the tent, Sokka falls silent, nervousness suddenly freezing his voice in his throat.

"Go on," Aang whispers. "Hikari and I will wait out here."

Sokka looks at Katara, and she takes his hand with a small smile. Together, they step into the tent.

"Dad..?"

Hakoda looks up from studying a few old pieces of parchment, and his eyes widen. "Sokka-Katara!"

He jumps to his feet, and Sokka and Katara both leap to embrace him. Katara's eyes are streaming tears, and Sokka fights against the stinging in his own.

"What are you two doing here?" Hakoda demands, pulling back and staring between them.

"We ran into Bato, he told us where you were," Katara explains, wiping at her face. "We had to stop by."

"What are you two doing out of the South Pole?"

Together, Sokka and Katara explain their adventures, while their father listens intently. It is a warm, wonderful feeling, having Hakoda there listening to their stories as though they are sitting around their fire at home in the South Pole. Sokka thinks he has never been so happy.

After the stories have been shared and Hakoda meets Hikari and Aang, their little group is shown to a nearby tent to rest and put their things away. As they head toward it, Sokka spots a small tent at the edge of the woods, away from the others.

"Dad? What's over there?"

Hakoda glances over and frowns a little. "We're keeping a Fire Nation prisoner. Stay away from there, kids. I don't want you anywhere near him. He's restrained, but he could still be a danger."

"A Fire Nation prisoner?" Sokka exclaims. "Where did you find him? What are you going to do with him?"

"Enough, Sokka," Hakoda orders. "It's none of your concern."

Sokka frowns, surprised and hurt. Why exactly Hakoda is treating him like a child, he isn't sure, but he nods anyway. "Okay, Dad."

He's lying, of course he is. There's no way he's not going to visit a Fire Nation prisoner, in their hands at long last. He just has to wait until nightfall.

-xx-

After dinner, a celebratory affair with much excitement, Sokka tells Katara and his friends he's going for a walk in the woods. They all look at him knowingly, but none of them say anything. Katara just looks at him disapprovingly, but Sokka is well-versed enough in that that it doesn't bother him. Much. He slips out of their tent and looks around; most of the men are already in bed, and those that are still out around the campfires aren't paying any attention to him. Carefully, quietly, he slips across the camp to the isolated tent and steps inside.

He's not entirely sure what he had been expecting, but what he sees is definitely not it. The prisoner slumped on the floor of the tent is around his own age, shirtless and with a mess of stringy black hair hanging in his face. He is blindfolded and covered in dirt, blood, and bruises, and Sokka can see every rib from where he stands in the mouth of the tent. Horrified, he takes a step forward, and in the next second he recognizes the boy.

It's Prince Zuko.

Before Sokka can do anything more than gape-the Fire Nation prisoner is the Fire Nation _prince_?-he hears someone else enter the tent. He whirls, expecting to have to stammer out an excuse to one of the men, maybe even his father, but it's only Hikari.

"Is that… oh my god!" Hikari's voice goes shrill. "What's he doing here?!"

Zuko's head jerks toward them, and Sokka grabs Hikari's arm, dragging her backwards out of the tent.

"Are you crazy?" he hisses, clutching her tighter as she struggles against his hold. "Neither of us are supposed to be in there, if you go and cause a scene-"

"What did they do to him?!" Cause a scene, apparently, is exactly what Hikari wants to do. "This isn't right, Sokka!"

Sokka claps a hand over Hikari's mouth and pulls her into the woods, slamming her against the nearest tree. "Shut up!" he yelps. "Shut up, Hikari, okay?"

Hikari flinches once at his touch and again when he yells, and she shuts up immediately, but her eyes are blazing. Slowly, Sokka releases her arms. He'd forgotten how much she hates to be grabbed, and has to fight down a squirm of shame.

"Look, if you think I'm just gonna sit by and-"

"Will you _calm down_?"

Hikari just snarls, and Sokka rolls his eyes. "Look, we weren't even supposed to be in there. What do you think we could do if they caught us?"

"So we are going to do something?" It's more of a statement than a question; Sokka has never seen her more determined. He hesitates.

"I don't know, 'Kari," he says. "He's Dad's prisoner, not to mention Fire Nation… if they've got him tied up like that in there, there's gotta be a reason…"

"There's no reason for anyone to treat another human being that way!"

Sokka sighs. Hikari isn't going to give up any time soon, but if she does something rash they might all be in big trouble.

"Look. Okay, maybe you're right-and I'm not saying you are!-but we can't do anything about it tonight. It's too dangerous, we'd be caught. So just… just go back to bed and let me think of something. Okay? Can you at least do that?"

Hikari stomps her foot, her eyes flashing, and storms off toward their shared tent. Sokka slumps against the tree trunk and moans. Suddenly, he's wishing they hadn't decided to visit.

What's he supposed to do with this?


	3. Chapter 2

Sokka stays out by the tree a long time, pacing, planning, panicking. He has never been so conflicted in all his life. His father… his father is keeping Zuko captive. His father wouldn't allow such treatment unless it was deserved… would he?

Because the fact remains, Zuko is no older than Sokka himself. A child, still, by any man's standards. And Sokka cannot get the sight of Zuko's thin and tortured body out of his mind. How can any man allow such treatment, much less his own father?

Sokka had always considered the men of his tribe the bravest, the most honorable of the entire four nations. But now….

Sokka grits his teeth and leaves the woods, walking back toward Zuko's lonely tent. He has no idea, yet, what he will do when he reaches it, but his feet remain on a steady path toward it. Nearly there, he sees the tent flap rustle, and he freezes, hovering in the shadows out of sight.

It is Suluk who exits, casting glances around furtively and-Sokka frowns-tightening his belt. The young warrior walks quickly and quietly out of sight, and after waiting a moment to be sure he is not returning, Sokka walks into the tent.

Zuko is curled on his side in the middle of the tent, blindfold lopsided and blood trailing its way down his forehead. He is gasping for breath, thin chest heaving, and there are fresh welts crisscrossing his back, resembling something that a leather strap might cause.

A leather belt, most likely. Sokka's stomach churns.

He bends next to Zuko and places a hand lightly on his shoulder, and Zuko cringes away from the touch with a broken snarl. "N-no! Get away from me!"

His voice is thick, hoarse, raspy, like he's speaking through a mouthful of sand. This close, Sokka can finally see what is binding his hands so he cannot firebend. There is a metal manacle shackling both his wrists together, and attached to that a heavy metal ball that completely encases his hands. Even if he was able to produce any fire inside, he would only succeed in burning himself. Sokka wonders grimly how many times he's tried.

With a resigned sigh, Sokka nudges Zuko over onto his back and pushes the blindfold back, away from his eyes. Zuko's breaths quicken still more, bird-like ribs looking ready to break with the strain, as his gaze darts around the tent before resting on Sokka's face. His good eye widens.

"Y-you?" He is almost incredulous, straining to sit up. "What are you doing here?"

Sokka grabs Zuko by his shoulders, helping him sit, and then pulls back. "Visiting family," is all he offers, gruffly. His mind is whirling. "How the hell did you end up here?"

"You have family here?" Zuko lets out a mirthless laugh. "Of course. Let me guess. They know I've been after your Avatar friend, that's why I'm being held? Some kind of punishment?"

Sokka gapes. "What..? No! We had no idea you were here… We haven't had contact with these men in years!"

Zuko stares. His eyes are hard and cold, but underneath that is a flicker of raw fear. "What do you want with me?"

Sokka hesitates, then stands. "Give me a second. I'll be right back." And he leaves the tent without a backwards glance.

He returns five minutes later with a pouch of water and a handful of seal jerky, and reenters the tent. Zuko is curled on the floor again, shaking with either cold, or leftover fear. Maybe both. Sokka stops and just looks at him; is he really not strong enough to stay seated for the little time Sokka had left him?

"Hey," Sokka says, stepping forward and jumping when Zuko jerks up into a half-sitting position before crashing unsteadily back into the dirt. Zuko winces, the unscarred side of his face twisting in pain, and coughs. His throat sounds so raw, Sokka has to fight away a wince of his own.

"Just me," Sokka says, a bit lamely, crouching next to him. He's not really sure why he thinks Zuko would be in any way comforted by his presence. But the words must help some, because Zuko seems to calm, glancing up at him before looking away. Sokka pulls him up again and uncorks the flask.

"I brought you some water." Sokka holds up the flask, and Zuko looks between it and him with a confused, wide-eyed stare.

"You what?"

Sokka looks at him, mildly concerned. "Water. You know… life-giving clear liquid..?"

Zuko's eyes narrow in mistrust. "What do you want?" he asks, the earlier demand now more forceful.

"You to drink this before somebody finds out I'm in here," Sokka responds, annoyed, and holds the pouch to Zuko's lips. Zuko does not protest again, but gulps down the pouch's contents in seconds. When he pulls away, gasping a little, Sokka holds out the jerky, feeding it to him piece by piece. Zuko keeps his eyes downcast as he chews on the tough meat. When Sokka is finished feeding him, he sits back on his heels.

Zuko finally raises his head, the fear back in his eyes. "Why?" he cracks out. Sokka tips his head and just stares at him. Just a beating with a leather belt wouldn't instill this much fear, not when Zuko had as much pride and anger as he did. So what else….

Sokka's eyes go wide. There is another reason why Zuko would be so frightened, why he had cringed away from Sokka's initial touch… and why Suluk would have been tightening his belt as he left. One glance over Zuko's scarred body proves the theory; dark, finger-like bruises marr his hips, and he sits as though in pain.

"Wait," Sokka says slowly, his stomach beginning to churn. "When Suluk… did… did he just…"

Zuko pales, and his eyes suddenly seem to bright, too big for his face. Quickly, he looks away. "I don't know what you're talking about. Leave me alone."

"But-"

"I said, leave me alone!" Zuko's voice cracks on the last word. "Just get out of here."

Sokka knows he's not getting anything else out of Zuko, not tonight, and anyway he really needs to leave before he's caught inside the tent. So with a sigh he picks up the blindfold and stands, wrapping the cloth back over Zuko's eyes. Zuko squirms, letting out a yelp of surprise and panic.

"No! No, wait, don't-please-!"

Sokka winces, but ties the knot tightly and steps back. He has never felt so sick, so ashamed of his tribe and himself.

"I'm sorry," he says, lowly. Then he turns and leaves the tent, heading back to the one he shares with his friends and curling up in his own sleeping bag. Even this little comfort feels like too much, knowing what Zuko has been living through just a few feet away.

He doesn't get much sleep. He is too busy planning a foolhardy, stupid, ridiculous rescue.

In the other tent, unbeknownst to Sokka, Suluk has returned. Zuko doesn't sleep much, either.

-xx-

A/N: I should say this: while my updates are pretty quick at the moment, I'm not guaranteeing they're going to stay that way. I'm a college student with a job and my schedule's pretty crazy. That being said, I'll try to keep my updates as regular as possible. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review!


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Happy New Year, my beauties! Sorry about the delay; the Christmas holidays are a Big Deal to me and my family, so I was kept quite busy. Hope you enjoy this chapter: it's a bit shorter than I planned, but I wanted to save everyone's reactions to what Zuko has been through for the next chapter. There will be some differing reactions, for sure. And I wanted to quickly address the OC pairing, while I'm up here talking: I'll tell you now, I'm not a fan of heavy romance, so I don't write it. So when I say "Zuko X OC," what I mean is "Zuko and the OC are close friends who kiss sometimes." ;) So if OC pairings or just pairings in general aren't your style, don't sweat. I hope to make it easily ignored for those who are uneasy. Anyway, on to the chapter! Leave a review if you fancy :).

-xx-

By the time Suluk has left the tent, Zuko can hardly breathe. His hips, his sides, are bruised and clawed to blood; his throat raw and nearly crushed; his back torn and bleeding from belt-buckle beatings. As soon as Suluk exits, Zuko presses his face into the dirt under him and lets out a strangled cry of pain. He had refused to let out even the smallest of sounds during Suluk's torture, fighting to keep the man from having the satisfaction of knowing how much pain he was causing. His blindfold, though, is soaked through with tears.

Minutes later, Zuko feels a light touch on his shoulder, and freezes, groaning out a shaky plea. Agni, he is so tired. "Stop…"

"It's me."

The blindfold is loosed, and Zuko blinks, straining to clear the tears from his eyes. From the light in the tent, it appears to be early morning; Suluk had been there for hours. Through the fog of tears, Zuko sees the Water Tribe boy—Sokka, he remembers dimly—crouched over him, looking grim and horrified.

"I thought...I told you...to leave...me alone…" Zuko closes his eyes again, trembling lightly.

"He came back?"

"Shut up," Zuko groans. Sokka's continuing visits are quickly growing tiresome. Zuko just wishes he would leave him to die in piece. He knows unless something drastic happens, a slow, torturous death is all he is headed for. At this point, it would be welcome.

Sokka rests his hand back on Zuko's shoulder. "I… I brought you some more water…."

Zuko peels open his good eye and stares tiredly at him. "Why…?"

Sokka is quiet a moment. "I don't know. But I did."

He slides his hand under Zuko's head and tips it up, holding a leather pouch to his lips. Zuko opens his mouth without protest, too tired to try to hold onto his pride. The water is cool, soothing against his dry tongue and raw throat. When Zuko is done, Sokka caps the pouch and pockets it.

"Look…" Zuko coughs and gasps in pain. One of his ribs is cracked, he can feel the strain of it. "I don't know why you keep coming back here… but… just stop. I don't need your pity."

"You don't have it." Sokka's voice is cold, quiet. "You have my pride and my anger. Trust me, that's a lot better."

"What..?"

Sokka is quiet for a long time. When he speaks again, it is with barely constrained rage that sends a thrill of fear up Zuko's spine.

"My whole life I've thought the men of my tribe were the bravest, the most honorable in all the four nations. And yet this…" Sokka pauses. "This isn't right." He stands, looking at Zuko with crossed arms and a determined expression. He looks almost like he's going to make some big inspiring speech, but then he just sighs.

"Get some rest."

And when he leaves, he doesn't put Zuko's blindfold back on. It's the first bit of kindness Zuko's been shown in weeks.

-xx-

Rest, Zuko does—it's really all he can do, after all. He only dozes, the pain rocketing through him with every breath making it hard to relax. But after a few hours without a visit from either Sokka or Suluk, he manages to slip into a deeper sleep.

But in the deeper sleep, he dreams.

It starts off innocently enough, Zuko on the deck of his ship, standing beside Uncle Iroh and staring out at the sea. They are both quiet, unusual for them, not snapping or arguing about anything. Then Iroh turns, placing a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Remember, Prince Zuko," he says, with a gentle smile. "Sometimes, you can find family where you hadn't thought to look before. And sometimes they can be better than the family you left behind."

"Uncle, what are you talking about?"

Instead of answering Zuko's question, Iroh smiles again and begins to fade out of view. "I must go, Prince Zuko."

"Wait—!" Zuko reaches out for Iroh, but his hand merely passes through his uncle's arm. His eyes smart with tears, and he starts to tremble. "Uncle, please… don't leave me here, I… I need you… please, come back!"

Iroh fades from view, along with the ship and the sun and the sea, leaving Zuko alone in the darkness. A moment later, calloused hands grab at his hips, and he feels hot breath against his neck. He squirms, panic leaping into his throat, and shakes his head hard.

"N-n-no—get off—" _You're dreaming, Zuko. It's just a dream—wake up!_

Suluk—for it is Suluk, Zuko would recognize the man's cruel touch anywhere—only laughs, pressing flush against Zuko's back and fumbling with the waist of his pants. Zuko trembles at the touch— _wakeupwakeupwakeup_ —and fights to push Suluk away, but his hands, free just moments before, are now nothing more than deadweights at his sides, and every attempt to wriggle out of Suluk's grasp is met only with clawing fingernails or knife cuts to his sides. He whimpers, shutting his eyes tight in anticipation of the pain he is about to be dealt.

"Please," he gasps out, fighting a sudden onrush of tears. Only in his dreams would he dare to beg this way; sleep is supposed to be an escape for him, not an extension of torture. "Please, no, please…"

Faintly, as though far away, he hears a voice, soft and soothing. "Zuko… Zuko, it's all right… come on, wake up…"

He strains for the voice—anything that is not Suluk's forceful, probing touch is welcome—and hears it louder. "Zuko, come on… wake up!"

And Zuko wakes, with a lurch and a gasp and a cringe of pain, the feel of Suluk's hands against his skin now a faint memory. The first thing he registers is that the blindfold is still gone; the second, that somebody seems to be fumbling with the restraints around his hands. And the third, that he no longer appears to be in the tent he's spent the last few hellish weeks in, if the amount of wind blowing his hair is any indication. He strains to sit up, to look around, but a gentle hand on his shoulder keeps him down.

"Hey, hold still. You're all right. We're trying to get these chains off you."

The voice is the same one that woke him, soft, calm, female. Zuko pries his eyes open and looks up, breathing hard. "Wha—what…"

It's the black-haired Earth Nation girl that travels with the Avatar, her blue eyes wide and soft with a kindness that's almost totally foreign. She smiles, her hand running lightly through his hair. "It's all right. We got you out of there."

"You what…?"

From behind him, he hears a click, and then the metal shackle around his hands loosens.

"Got it!" The exclamation belongs to Sokka, tinged with a bit of relief. "Gods, I thought I'd never get that damn thing off."

Zuko stretches his fingers out for the first time in weeks and groans in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. He hears the Earth Nation girl gasp, feels her hand light on his wrists.

"Try not to move," she whispers. "Those are some pretty bad burns."

"Mm… yeah, I… I know…" He winces, trying to shift his body into a more comfortable position now that he is free. "Couldn't help it…" He knows his hands are badly damaged, perhaps irreversibly so. Sometimes, when the torture had become too much, they had flared of their own accord in a feeble attempt to protect him.

Those had been the only times he couldn't help but scream.

The girl lifts his head and slips a small pillow under him. "Katara and I are going to patch you up. All right? You just try to rest."

"Yeah," Zuko murmurs. His voice is nothing more than a thready whisper, and already he can feel himself slipping back to sleep. Before he can sleep, though, there's something he has to do, so he fights to clear his throat and speak a little louder, mindless of the pain. "Sokka..?"

"Yeah?" Sokka sounds surprised, either that Zuko knows his name, or at the address in general. He is still behind Zuko, so Zuko can't see his face.

"Thank you," Zuko says, with a cough and a grimace. There is a long, heavy pause, and then Sokka sighs.

"Get some rest," he says, quietly, and Zuko doesn't argue. He presses his face into the pillow and is back asleep in moments.

This time, he doesn't dream at all.


	5. Chapter 4

You guys. You guys, I am a Big Idiot. I have had this chapter completed and saved on my phone for probably months now and for some reason I thought I had already posted it. I now realize this is very much not the case, so here it is. Not exactly what I wanted it to be, but you beautiful darlings have waited for much longer than I thought you were going to when I started this endeavor. The plot is going to pick up after this one, I promise. Bear with me.

-x-

When Zuko wakes again, he is nestled in a fur-lined sleeping bag, a soft blanket draped over his shoulders, his face half-pressed into a small pillow. He blinks open his eyes and yawns, shifting slightly to get a good glimpse at his surroundings without making it obvious that he's awakened. He appears to be sheltered at the base of a tree, only one amid hundreds, as far as he can see in any direction. Their little group appears to be camping in the middle of a forest.

Far away from any beach, then. That seems promising.

Zuko tries to push himself up to see around him better, to try to locate Sokka and his friends, but as soon as he moves his arms, a shock of pain assaults him, rocketing through his hands. Zuko gasps, wincing, and slips back down, peering groggily at his hands. They feel clumsy, weighted, and after a moment of scrutinizing Zuko's tired eyes register thick white bandages, wrapped around his palms and each individual finger.

His hands, though finally free, are still completely useless, then. That realization does nothing to soothe the quiet fear bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

Foiled by the bandages, Zuko resorts to closing his eyes and listening for the small group. After a moment of straining, he picks up the sound of a crackling fire, and voices pitched in tense whispers. He bites his lip and attempts to catch the soft words, but a moment later he doesn't have to try.

"I'm not leaving him in the forest to starve, Katara!"

The shout is Sokka's, so loud and abrupt Zuko jumps, heart leaping against his ribs. For a moment, he stops breathing; his fate is being decided just a few feet away, and he can't even lift a single finger in his own defense.

"So you suggest we bring him with us?!" Katara's voice is shrill with anger and disbelief. "After he's chased us around the entire world trying to kill us, you want to keep him right here, with immediate access to us? To Aang?"

"I don't see another option! I didn't save his life just to let him die here!"

"Katara, it's not like he can really do anything to hurt me." Aang speaks up for the first time, his words softer and level with reason. "He could barely move when we were flying on Appa. He doesn't have enough strength to take even one of us on, not to mention all four of us."

"If we keep him, he'll get stronger. Then what do we do, drop him off in some Earth Nation village and hope he doesn't burn it to the ground like he did Kyoshi Island?"

Katara's words are dripping with hate and disgust, and they bring a sharp punch of guilt in Zuko's gut. _That was an accident_! he wants to scream, but he forces himself to remain quiet.

"We can decide what to do about that later," Sokka snaps. "For now our only choice is to help him. Unless you want to bring him back?"

No. This time, Zuko really thinks his heart will stop for good. His breathing quickens, his throat closing up in distress, and his body starts to shake, coated with a cold film of sweat. No, no, no—he can't. He can't go back there, back to the beatings, the rape, the torture… God, he'd do anything, absolutely anything, so long as he didn't have to go through that again.

"You're all forgetting the obvious." The Earth Nation girl speaks for the first time, and her voice is cold, nearly disdainful. "You saved his life. He owes us a debt. Maybe he won't even want to chase us down anymore. I wouldn't."

For a moment, they're all quiet, and then Katara speaks again. "Yeah, well how are we gonna figure out what he wants?"

"You could ask him. He's been awake for a few minutes now."

Without looking over, Zuko knows they all turned to face him.

Found out, Zuko rolls to his side and pushes himself up on one elbow, gasping at sharp pain in his hands and side and slumping against the tree. His head swirls, his stomach clenching painfully, and he has to close his eyes to settle himself. His hair falls in a matted tangle in front of his face, and he makes no attempt to shake it away, preferring to keep it hanging there like a protective shield.

"Um," Sokka says, after a moment of tense silence. "Hey."

Zuko peers at him through his hair and grunts. He doesn't know what to say; he hasn't really figured out why they took him yet.

"We were just trying… to um… well…"

"Don't send me back there." Zuko's voice cracks and wavers, and he winces at his own weakness. "Kill me. That's fine. But don't make me go back to that. Please."

Sokka sighs, tired and worn. "I'm not going to. But we've got to figure something out."

Zuko shuts his eyes again and swallows, fighting an impulse to throw up despite the aching emptiness of his stomach. He wants his uncle back, he wants to go home… he wants his mom like he hasn't in years.

"Zuko..?"

"Just decide, then," Zuko says, cold and quiet. "I can't exactly fight you." He looks down at his bandaged hands and wonders absently if he'll ever be able to firebend again.

Sokka is quiet for a long time, but when he does speak, it is nothing like Zuko had expected to hear.

"Where's your ship?"

Zuko stares at him, surprised, then shrugs. "I don't know. One of my crewmen got stuck in the crow's nest during that big storm a few weeks ago. I climbed up to help him and I got blown off. Woke up on that beach."

They must think him drowned. Probably, they have returned to the Fire Nation.

"There's nothing really we can do with you now. You'll starve to death if we leave you alone and no Earth Nation town's going to take you in. You'll have to travel with us until you're stronger. Can you deal with that?"

"Yes," Zuko says weakly. He doesn't have another choice, anyway. His other options are death… or returning to Suluk.

Katara crosses her arms and looks away with a scowl, and Sokka frowns at her. "Katara…"

"Well don't expect me to do cartwheels!" Katara shrieks, suddenly jumping to her feet, and Zuko flinches back at the sudden movement, closing his eyes tight.

"Katara!"

Katara huffs, and Zuko hears her storm off into the woods. Sokka sighs.

"Sit tight, will you?"

More footsteps fade away, and when Zuko dares to open his eyes, the only person left around the fire is the Earth Nation girl. Zuko squirms as he meets her eyes, but she smiles lightly.

"My name's Hikari," she says, her voice soft, gentle. "You think you could hold some food down?"

"What…?" Zuko whispers, breathless. The idea of a meal is nearly foreign at this point, the hopeless cramping of his stomach a familiar, constant sensation he could all but ignore at this point.

"Here, hang on." Hikari pulls a leather pack toward herself, tugging it open and fishing out a pouch of sorts. She stands up and makes her way toward him, lowering herself to the ground in front of him, crossing her legs, frowning slightly at his bandaged hands.

"I don't know if you're going to be able to hold anything with that," she says, and Zuko raises one shoulder in a shrug. The need for food is more important than his pride at this point; hopefully, she won't taunt him with it.

 _I'll feed you tonight, my boy, but first I've got something else in mind for that little mouth of yours… On your knees, now._

Zuko shudders, skin crawling with the memory of being dragged up by his hair, forced to comply as tears soaked through his blindfold and trailed down his face. He shuts his eyes tightly and tries to anchor himself, then jumps at a light touch on his knee.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Mmhm," Zuko says numbly, raising his eyes to meet her concerned gaze. "S-sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," she says, tugging open the pouch, pulling out a thick crust of bread. She breaks off a manageable bite and holds it out, letting it touch his lips so he doesn't have to strain for it. Zuko opens his mouth and accepts the offering, closing his eyes and leaning back against the tree to chew and swallow.

He moves his jaw slowly, almost as though he's forgotten how to work it properly. The bread itself has little taste, but Zuko relishes the feel of it in his mouth for as long as he can before swallowing. It's hard to swallow given the dryness of his throat, and he winces and coughs, lurching forward with the force.

"Easy," Hikari murmurs, fumbling with a flask at her hip and unscrewing it, sliding her hand around the back of his head to steady him as he drinks. "There, take it slow."

Zuko tries to slow himself, but the need for water trumps any sensibility on his part, and Hikari has to pull the flask away, leaving him gasping and trembling, trying to steady his breathing.

"Careful, you'll get sick." She caps the flask and picks up the pouch again, then tugs out another piece of bread and holds it to his lips. Again, Zuko chews it slowly, his breaths returning to some semblance of normalcy.

Hikari continues to feed him without another word passed between them, alternating between chunks of bread and strips of some dried meat, until Zuko turns away, shaking his head lightly.

"That's enough," he murmurs. "Thank you." His stomach is comfortably full; he can't even remember the last time he'd experienced the feeling.

"You're welcome," Hikari says with a small smile. "Are you cold? I can help you move closer to the fire."

"Yeah," Zuko says slowly. "Yeah, that would be fine…"

"Here," Hikari says, and takes his arm, grip firm. Carefully, she helps him to his knees and then his feet, and he gasps, closing his eyes against a sudden ripple of pain that nearly knocks him off of his feet. Hikari holds him steady until he regains his balance, face darkened with concern.

"You all right?" she asks. "Take it slow."

"I can do it," Zuko manages, opening his eyes, heaving a few deep breaths. He takes the few unsteady steps that bring him to the edge of the fire, and crumples again. Hikari grips his arm tightly and eases his fall, making sure he doesn't topple into the flames.

"Thanks," Zuko says, and leans forward, wrapping his arms around his knees and staring into the fire. After a moment, his breathing steadies, and the flames begin to rise and fall slightly in time with his breathing. His chest seems to lighten a bit.

"I'm sorry you can't bend…" Hikari murmurs, sitting down nearby and staring into the fire as well. He looks up at her in surprise, but she never lifts her gaze.

"You're not scared of it?" he asks. She shakes her head.

"No one should be scared of bending. It's natural. Scared of some firebenders, yeah, but not the bending itself. I lived in the Fire Nation. I know they're not all bad people." She picks up a twig and tosses it idly into the blaze. Zuko just watches her.

"I thought you were Earth Nation?" he ventures after a while, careful not to offend her, intensely aware of the vulnerability of his position at the moment.

"I am," she says, with a careless shrug. "My mother went to the Fire Nation with her husband just before I was born. She wasn't supposed to stay long, but things changed. The marriage fell apart because of it and we left a few years ago. She's somewhere in Ba Sing Se."

"Why aren't you with her?"

Hikari doesn't reply, or give any indication that she heard his question. She only drops her chin on her knees and closes her eyes, and Zuko takes that as a polite end to the conversation. After a moment, he lays down and shuts his eyes as well.

He doesn't wake for a long time.


End file.
